A Heaven-Sent Campsite

"What's the terrain around the canyon like?"

Victor asked curiously.

Howard had personally led troops in guerrilla warfare in the mountains. He had even lured enemy troops into magical beast territory, dealing a devastating blow to their morale.

The Wolf Pack Canyon that had caught his attention was no ordinary little mountain ravine.

"There's nothing special about the terrain, and the slopes aren't particularly steep. The canyon covers about thirty to forty square kilometers.

The wolf packs settled there mainly because there's a deep pool in the valley, and the elemental energy is a tiny bit denser than outside."

Howard answered with a smile.

Without that pool, such an ordinary canyon might not be common in the Dragonbone Mountains, but there would be no shortage of them either.

If anything made it unusual, it was that the canyon opened directly onto the grasslands.

With the pool, things were different.

If a drought struck, that pool could save lives.

If the nearby Tuwu People tribes discovered it, they would seize the pool at any cost.

"Take me there. I want a look."

An idea flashed through Victor's mind, and he immediately decided to make the trip himself.

A true advantage of terrain was never some naturally impregnable position.

If the terrain was too forbidding, they could spot it, and so could the enemy.

Even if they tried to lure the enemy in, the enemy would only send a small force to probe it.

Only a place that appeared unremarkable but concealed deadly danger could deal the enemy a severe blow.

Luring the enemy into fighting the wolf packs was far too simplistic.

They could build on that and take it much further.

"Commander, the wolf packs are highly aggressive. If so many of us go over there, they'll pounce on us immediately."

Howard spoke with some hesitation.

This was a killing move prepared for the enemy. If their own men went over and fought the wolves first, wouldn't that be helping the enemy?

"Haha..."

"Howard, you're thinking too small!"

"The enemy has tens of thousands of troops. How much of a threat could a few wolf pack families pose to them?

The most valuable thing in the canyon isn't the wolves, but the canyon itself.

It's spacious enough, there's water in the valley, and the surrounding woods make it easy to gather firewood. Isn't it a heaven-sent campsite?"

Victor laughed as he spoke.

An army of tens of thousands could not set up camp just anywhere.

A water supply was a problem that had to be solved.

The Tuwu People army liked to bring cattle and sheep on campaign, so it needed even more water.

The enemy had stopped eighty li away not because they were timid, but because there was a river with a decent flow over there.

Once they entered the Dragonbone Mountains, things changed.

There were no natural rivers at all in the area occupied by the Third Supplementary Army.

The few mountain streams could supply several thousand men well enough, but any more would exceed their capacity.

Because of the water problem, the Third Supplementary Army was stationed in separate areas, though the camps were not far apart.

If the enemy dared do the same, they could expect to be defeated one force at a time!

On the grasslands, a warhorse could gallop several kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Two peaks in the wooded mountains might appear to be only one or two kilometers apart, but in reality, getting from one to the other would take several hours at least.

Where conditions were worse, it would not be unusual for the journey to take a day or two.

If there were a heaven-sent campsite, the enemy would find it hard to pass up.

"Commander, we can't let the enemy discover a heaven-sent campsite like that!"

"Once the enemy army bears down on us, the pressure on us will be too great!"

Jasper hurriedly warned him.

With the enemy camped eighty li away, no matter how many plans they had, their troops would be exhausted by the time they raced over.

If they wanted to enter the mountains and encircle and annihilate them, they would have to split their army into several forces.

But once the enemy reached the foot of the mountains, things would change.

The best choice would be to relocate before the enemy had established a foothold and avoid the brunt of their attack.

Building up their resources was not easy. Although the Third Supplementary Army had not been in the Dragonbone Mountains long, it had never stopped building camps.

Every battalion was stationed in a defensible position.

In a head-on battle, the enemy would struggle to threaten them without more than five times their strength.

If they were really going to abandon these camps and start over, they might as well give up everything they had and run for it.

In fact, more than twenty days ago, after they had decided to head west, someone had proposed a strategic withdrawal.

Unfortunately, there had been too many wounded in the army at the time. Withdrawing would have meant abandoning them, dealing too great a blow to morale.

On top of that, they had captured a great many cattle, sheep, and horses, precisely the supplies the army needed most.

If they abandoned them all, they would have to raid other Tuwu People tribes along the way. If the enemy warned the tribes along their route to move beforehand, they would go hungry.

Besides, too few soldiers in the army knew how to ride, and learning took time. If they withdrew, they would still be traveling on foot.

On the grasslands, two legs could not outrun four.

Even with a ten- or fifteen-day head start, the enemy would catch up quickly.

After weighing the pros and cons, they ultimately decided to consolidate their foundations first.

While curing meat, they organized the entire army to practice riding.

The withdrawal was planned for after they had defeated the encirclement campaign.

Once they had crushed this round of the enemy's encirclement campaign, the enemy would have to gather even more troops before attacking again.

The empire's armies had not been idle either. However slowly they moved, they should have reached the northern frontier by then.

With them tying down the enemy's main force, the Tuwu People were unlikely to divide their troops.

To assemble enough men for a second campaign to encircle and annihilate the Third Supplementary Army, they could only draw troops from the tribes back home.

Getting it done in a month or two would count as efficient.

That long an interval would be enough for the army to travel several thousand li.

Even if the enemy wanted to pursue them, they would not know how.

"Let's take a look first. We'll decide whether to give it to them after we've scouted the terrain."

"If conditions permit, the materials I had you prepare earlier might just come in handy!"

Victor spoke with a calm expression.

The Northern Expedition Corps.

"All of you have come back from the front. Tell me what you saw."

Duke Sebastian asked expressionlessly.

As one of the empire's veteran marshals, he despised deserters above all else.

The front had suffered heavy losses in men and officers, and vast stretches of the empire's territory had fallen into enemy hands, yet not one of the generals commanding the armies had died for his country.

Had he not been concerned about the repercussions, he would have had these men dragged out and beheaded immediately, so they would no longer disgrace the empire's soldiers.

"Esteemed Marshal Sebastian, the Northern Frontier Corps' defeat on the grasslands was mainly due to errors in my command.

There were many more factors behind the fall of Dragon Spine Pass.

Poor coordination between units, rampant bureaucratic corruption, logistics..."

Duke Alvin opened fire first.

There was no way he could evade responsibility for the Northern Frontier Corps' defeat, but he would not take the blame for the fall of Dragon Spine Pass.

Magic crystal cannons that burst in the barrel, a magic-suppression field that failed, substandard military equipment...

If the empire's bureaucrats had been even a little less corrupt, Dragon Spine Pass would not have been as flimsy as paper.

"Duke Alvin, His Majesty will decide who is to be held accountable.

I don't care about the reasons for the defeat. Right now, all I want is information about the enemy!"

Marshal Sebastian interrupted him at once.

Everyone on the continent knew that corruption was rampant among the empire's bureaucrats, including His Majesty the emperor himself.

But knowing about it did not mean it could be solved. The empire had also taken numerous measures to combat corruption.

The results showed just how ineffective they had been.

Since the problem could not be solved, there was no point in exposing it.